Yoo Sang-beom "Han Dong-hoon 70% Chance of Running... Will Entrust Significant Role"

"Party Actively Requests Star Minister to Run"
"Korea Candidacy May Lower Interest in Lee Jun-seok's New Party"

Yoo Sang-beom, a member of the People Power Party, stated that there is about a "70% chance" that Han Dong-hoon, the Minister of Justice, will run in next year's general election. In an interview on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 21st, Yoo said, "I understand that the party has actively requested star ministers to run."

Yoo said, "(Regarding the party's big tent formation) I think the possibility of Han Dong-hoon running is increasing due to his influence, star power, recognition, various capabilities, and expectations."

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Regarding the constituency where Minister Han might run, Yoo said, "It doesn't matter much which constituency he runs in," adding, "Whether proportional representation or not, as you saw during his visit to Daegu, Minister Han has national expectations, interest, and recognition, so the party leadership will consider assigning him a much bigger role in the general election."

He continued, "Whether as a co-head of the central election committee or in other roles, we expect Minister Han to lead the victory in the Seoul metropolitan area, which we evaluate as the most competitive battleground, and naturally, he will be expected to play such a role."

Yoo predicted that once Minister Han officially begins his general election campaign, interest in the 'Lee Jun-seok new party' and others will decrease. Yoo said, "If Minister Han enters politics and his influence expands, the attention toward former leader Lee Jun-seok will inevitably decline reflexively," and added, "I am skeptical about the new party's chances of success."

Regarding former leader Lee's claim that he built a network of nearly 40,000 supporters over the past weekend, Yoo said, "When Assemblyman Ahn Cheol-soo collected signatures to expel former leader Lee Jun-seok, he gathered 40,000 people in just a few days," and added, "At this stage, I do not see the possibility of founding a party as very high."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.